Tuesday is Mardi Gras! Bring in the clowns! Fat Tuesday (loose translation) will give way to Ash Wednesday (no translation needed). Lent, a very late Lent, will begin and will help us to prepare for the celebration of Easter and the renewal of our Baptismal Promises.
We are always in need of renewal and Lent is always about Baptism. Our Baptism into the Risen Christ is how it all starts for all Christians. The wild ride of our spiritual life begins in the waters of Baptism. No matter how long ago ours actually was, it is refreshed at Easter with the renewal of Baptismal promises and the sprinkling with Easter water.
Some students always ask about fast and abstaining from meat. These days Lent isn’t the grueling ordeal your grandparents knew. Here’s the short course on a Catholic observance of Lent.
Voluntary acts which take the focus off of ourselves and place it on the needs of others are a good way to enter into the spirit of the season.
Still, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence from meat. There is a limit of one full meal on these days for all between the ages of 18 and 59 inclusive. I doubt this will induce any of you to long for the age of 60. ‘Though, trust me, it’ll come soon enough. Why do you think they call it “Fast”?
So, after we’re 14 we abstain totally from meat on all the Fridays of Lent. Now you know where Carnivale gets its name. Bye-bye Meat! Until fairly recently that applied to the whole of Lent.
After we receive First Communion, we Catholics are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This is called the Easter Duty. The prescribed time for fulfilling the Easter duty extends: from the first Sunday of Lent to Trinity Sunday, in the United States. Catholics are also bound to confess serious (mortal) sins at least once a year, but this is not limited to the Lenten /Easter Season.
The rules are pretty minimalistic but they emphasize the most important qualities of our lives: other-centeredness, self-control, repentance for our sins and union with Christ in the Eucharist. If we were told we had to breathe every 3 minutes we would probably go for a more frequent pattern of breathing.
Before we go blithely into Lent, let’s celebrate Mardi Gras with Pizzas from Mr. G’s and a Piñata full of candy in the Chapel library after the 5 pm Mass this Saturday March 5th.
On Wednesday, March 9th, there will be Mass and the distribution of ashes at 5 pm in the Harkness Chapel.
Then we’re off to Spring Break! When you return we will celebrate Mass on the Wednesdays of Lent in addition to the usual Saturday Vigil Masses all at 5 pm.
On April 16th we will observe Palm Sunday and begin Holy Week with Bishop Michael Cote, the local Bishop. A reception will follow Mass so you can meet him.
On Wednesday April 20th there will be a Penance Service in the Chapel at 5 pm.
A Good Friday Service will be held on April 22nd at 3 pm in the Harkness Chapel.
And on Sunday, April 24, at 11 am we will celebrate the Mass of Easter in Harkness Chapel. A breakfast will follow Mass in the Chapel Library.
I’ll remind you again about all the events after Break but I just wanted to give you a “heads up” on all these events for your calendars. You can always stay in touch at http://www.conncatholics.com/
I hope to see you Saturday or on Ash Wednesday.
Devotedly Yours,
Fr. Larry
Thursday, March 3, 2011
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